The PCO Association of Seville vindicates the use of the city's museums as event venues.
One of the Professional Congress Organizers Association of Seville's New Year resolutions is to obtain permission to use the city's museums for hosting all kinds of corporate events. An application in this respect was submitted a few months ago, and the authorities have promised to study the proposal.
Many of the city's museums, such as the Fine Arts, Art and Customs and Archeological Museums, do not have sufficient income to cover running costs. Therefore, their use as event venues would provide them with a much needed additional source of income.
Gustavo de Medina, the association's president, states that in times such as these one must be practical, and "the local MICE and cultural industries ought to join forces to combat cuts in public financing."
In Italy, this strategy has already been implemented with the country's chief museums hiring out their facilities for business meetings, meals, fashion shows and even filming. Many museums in Spain also offer meeting space but without works of art. Nonetheless, this activity generates important incremental income, helping them to survive. For instance, the Prado Museum obtains an annual income of between EUR 500,000-600,000 from the meetings and event industry.
In the opinion of the PCO Association of Seville, these unique venues would generate incremental MICE business for the city at a moment when the industry is in dire need of a boost to compete with other Spanish cities, such as Valencia, which are threatening to relegate Seville to the bottom of the national business tourism destination ranking.
